I am really thinking about trying it this year! Looks easy enough to cut the back bone out and lay it flat........cuts the cooking time in 1/2, which of course means less time in the oven to dry out the meat!

If you've cooked it this way, or just eaten one that someone else cooked this way....please chime in and let me know! TIA!

You still have nearly the same mass to heat and the same thickness in the legs which is usually the slowest to cook.

More surface area to heat at once.........again, this is all supposed because I have no experience, but every recipe I've found for cooking this way is a lot less cooking time. Starting out higher (around 425, then dropping to 350 after an hour or so)

Imagine making a ball of hamburger in the oven verses a flat patty....It's not really the mass, but the ability to reach the center with heat.

We cook it like that ever year as log as I can remember. Though we cook it low and slow, so our 12-15lb turkey takes about 5 hours plus an hour of rest.

__________________Ella: 3 year old female ferretNacho: ~8 year old male ferretApollo: 5 year old male ferretSummer: 5 year old female ferretGoodbye, Rosey. You were the best girl I could have asked for. 10/15/96-03/08/13